cheering for the CUBS

Last week, Adam got 4 free tickets to a Cubs game! Since Amy and Rebekah were still here, they got to see their first Cubs game at Wrigley field. Although Wrigley Co. no longer owns Wrigley Field, Adam works for Wrigley Co. so I'm going to say "Wrigley" as many times as possible in this post so that you'll see just how awesome Wrigley is and realize how much you want Wrigley's gum! j/k

It was a BEAUTIFUL windy day in Chicago. We headed down early to eat before the game and dined alfresco at Tuscany's.

It was "knit hat day" so all adults got free stocking caps with the Cubs logo on them. :)

Rebekah loves cameras. One of her favorite things to do while she was here was take pictures of us. Here is a sampling of her photography at the Cubs game...

It seems she has an exceptional ability of capturing true and genuine emotion of the people she's taking pictures of...

They played the Cincinnati Reds and won 9-5. (We actually left in the 5th inning when they were still losing and before the game got exciting, but shh, don't tell!) Go Cubbies!

an in-law for an outlaw

We had some visitors this past week! After a long and horrifying 18+ hour flight/drive out here, Amy and Rebekah made it out here early Friday morning.

Aaron and Anna drove down from Minneapolis for the weekend too. We went bowling, went to the mall, played lots of guitar hero...

made strawberry shortcake...

and Aaron and Anna opened up their first wedding gift! Look how cute they are opening together... ;)

...handmade Christmas stockings from Mom! They loved them, Mom! But they did say:
"You know what this means- we'll expect stockings when we start having kids, too!"
I think they're planning on 10 or so- just so you're prepared ;)

Amy, Bekah and I did some shopping, played games, sang, and watched a family favorite: Robin Hood. :)

It was pretty windy and rainy most of the time, but the last couple days were beautiful!

Thanks so much for coming despite the miserable journey out here! You guys are welcome anytime!

a daughter

Happy Birthday Dad!!

You've taught me to strive for my full potential.



You've taught me to enjoy the amazing people that are in my life.



You've showed me how to put God first in my life.

How blessed I am to have you as my dad!

I love you! Hope you had a great day.

Love, Betsy

making progress

I've finished two cushions so far!

They both have their fair share of imperfections, but I'm ok with that since I'm just winging it anyway.

Our plan was to spray them with Scotch Guard so that they can take a beating to food and spills and still look ok. However, when I tried it out on a small area (as the directions suggested), color came off both fabrics when I rubbed them with a cloth. Apparently that means I'm not supposed to use it.

Anyone have any suggestions about this?!?! Is there another product I can use that would be color safe? Should I wash the material first and then try it?

I have another long one to make and then I tackle this one- yikes!

hanging with Hannah

Hannah no longer sucks her thumb and for her reward, she chose to spend a night with her aunt and uncle!

We had a blast playing games, having ice cream sundaes, dancing, making breakfast in bed for Adam...

swimming 2 times (even though it was closed from 10-2pm!), playing at 3 playgrounds...

beating Adam at Sequence (watch out, she's good!), having a special snack and eating lunch at Wendy's.

Thanks for sharing your fun day with me! I love you,

Love Aunt Betsy

spring cleaning...

It was getting a bit ridiculous... these photos don't adequately show the shear volume of magazines that we had lying around our home in various places. These stacks were literally several inches tall. How do two people acquire that many in 3 years??

Anyway, with so much information accessible on the web with just a click of a button, we decided to purge our stash and keep only the essential and most recent.

Which of course included all of these... :)

It felt great to get started on some spring cleaning projects. Next task? Maybe I should try finishing those bench cushions...!